Seneca Tragicus

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Seneca tragicus

The University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics, and Archaeology 2010–2011, Semester 2 Seneca Tragicus Edinburgh 2011

Seneca tragicus (LATI10034)

You should use this course handbook in conjunction with the Honours Handbook 2010–2011 which was distributed earlier. There you will find information on course protocol, in particular on plagiarism and penalties for late coursework and a section on assessment. If you do not have a copy of the handbook it can be downloaded from: http://www.shc.ed.ac.uk/undergraduate

GENERAL INFORMATION

COURSE ORGANISER Dr Michael Lurie Office: West Wing (Teviot Place) 01M.13 Phone: (0131) 6503588 e-mail: [email protected] Other helpful contacts are the Classics secretaries, Elaine Hutchison ([email protected]) and Jill Shaw ([email protected]).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE Lucius Annaeus Seneca (ca. 1 BCE – 65 CE) was not only an orator, statesman, philosopher, and an author of philosophical essays, but also a brilliant playwright, whose tragedies exercised a powerful influence over the Renaissance theatres of Italy, France, and Elizabethan England. The course examines Seneca's plays in their historical, literary, and intellectual contexts. Particular attention is paid to Seneca's transformation of Greek models, the role of Stoic philosophy, political background, and the history of reception of Seneca's plays in Europe.

TEACHING ARRANGEMENTS

PLACE: West Wing (Teviot Place) 01M.20. TIME: Tuesdays in Semester 2 at 16.00–17.50.

ASSESSMENT This course will be assessed by a combination of prescribed coursework, which will count for 35% of the final mark, and a two-hour examination, which will count for the remaining 75%. There is no resit examination for this course, unless it is being taken as part of an Ordinary degree programme.

LEARNING OUTCOMES – translate fluently and accurately from the prescribed texts into clear and appropriate English – produce problem-oriented, well-argued, well-researched, relevant, and coherent coursework essays on specific aspects of Seneca’s work and Roman intellectual history – demonstrate in written work and in examinations an informed understanding of the most important historical, literary, cultural, intellectual, and philosophical issues raised by the

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study of Seneca’s tragedies, Latin poetry, and Roman intellectual history as well as of the most important scholarly approaches in the interpretation of Seneca’s work – make judicious use of dictionaries, commentaries, works of reference, and critical studies

DETAILED INFORMATION ON COURSE

PARTICIPATION AND CONTACT

There will be classes on all Tuesdays in Semester 2. In most meetings interaction and discussion rather than passive listening will be the norm. You are expected to prepare in advance for each meeting, in particular by reading thoroughly the relevant Latin text. Attendance is of course expected, and it will be appreciated of students who for whatever reason cannot attend a particular meeting give notice of this by e-mail. Spare copies of handouts will be available. Persistent absence without sufficient justification will be reported to the student's Director of Studies. Messages about the course may be circulated to students by e-mail. It is now a University requirement that students must respond to e-mails sent to their University e-mail address and it will be assumed that every member of the class can be contacted at this address and checks incoming mail regularly. Feedback from students is always welcome. You may either contact the course organiser personally or speak to the Class Representative. At the end of the course, you will be asked for your anonymous comments on a course assessment questionnaire.

TEACHING PROGRAMME

Week 1: Seneca: rhetoric, philosophy, tyranny Week 2: Insatiable desire and the spread of evil – Thyestes 1-175 Week 3: Atreus and stoic psychology or: Who is a true king? – Thyestes 176–404 Week 4: A king without a kingdom – Thyestes 405–622 Week 5: Cosmic sympathy and the conflagration of the universe – Thyestes 623–884 Week 6: Recognition in the dark. Thyestes and the problem of evil – Thyestes 885–112: – Retrospective I: Seeing Seneca as a whole Week 7: From Sophocles to Seneca – Oedipus 1–201

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Week 8: Fate, divination, and inverted nature – Oedipus 202–402 Week 9: Magic spells and tragic ghosts – Oedipus 403–708: Week 10: High-speed recognition or: The mechanics of fate – Oedipus 709–914 Week 11: No Stoic world? Stoicism and Seneca’s tragic vision – Oedipus 915–1061 – Retrospective II: Theatrum Mundi

ASSESSMENT: COURSEWORK

There will be one essay (ca. 3,500 words), worth 35% of the marks for the course, due by 12 noon on Thursday 24 March 2011. The essays can be 'more literary' or 'more philosophical' in approach or deal with Seneca’s transformation of Greek models or look at the reception of Seneca in modern Europe. They should, however, focus on the set texts. If you wish to choose your own subject please consult with me about the title by seventh week. Otherwise try one of the following topics. Feel free to adapt the wording. ‘These are not tragedies! These are declamations, composed according to the norm of tragedy and spun into acts’ (F. Leo). Discuss [Your answer must be based on a detailed analysis of one of the set texts] What role, if any, does Stoic philosophy play in Seneca’s tragedies? [Your answer must be based on a detailed analysis of one of the set texts] Are Seneca’s plays mere showpieces of technical virtuosity? Or are they to be taken seriously as literature? [Your answer must be based on a detailed analysis of one of the set texts] ‘Seneca’s Thyestes is a political play of the age of Nero.’ Discuss What makes Seneca’s Oedipus so different from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex? Discuss the influence of Seneca’s Thyestes or Oedipus on the Renaissance theatre of Italy, France, and Elizabethan England. [Your answer must be based on a detailed analysis of particular plays] Discuss any modern translation, adaptation, or production of Seneca’s Thyestes or Oedipus.

ASSESSMENT: DEGREE EXAMINATION

The degree examination (two hours) will consist of translation and interpretation of passages from the prescribed texts and an essay question.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. PRESCRIBED EDITION: O. ZWIERLEIN (OCT 1986)

2. TRANSLATIONS: – J. G. Fitch, vol. 1-2 (Loeb 2002-2004) – E. Wilson (Oxford World’s Classics 2010)

3. COMMENTARIES:

Hercules furens: – ed. by J. G. Fitch (Cornell 1987)

Troades: – ed. by E. Fantham (Princeton 1982)

Phoenissae: – ed. by M. Frank (Leiden 1995)

Medea: – ed. by C. D. N. Costa (Oxford 1973) – ed. with translation and commentary by H. M. Hine (Aris & Phillips 2000)

Phaedra: – ed. by M. Coffy and R. Mayer (Cambridge 1990)

Oedipus: – K. Töchterle, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Oedipus: Kommentar mit Einleitung, Text, Übersetzung (Heidelberg 1994) – ed. by A. J. Boyle (Oxford 2010)

Agamemnon: – R. J. Tarrant, Seneca, Agamemnon, ed. with a commentary (Cambridge 1976)

Thyestes: – R. J. Tarrant, Seneca’s Thyestes. Edited with introduction and commentary (Atlanta 1985)

[Octavia]: – A. J. Boyle (ed.), Octavia: Attributed to Seneca. With introduction, translation, and commentary (Oxford 2008)

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4. BIBLIOGRAPHY B. Seidensticker & M. Armstrong, ‘Seneca tragicus 1878-1978 (with Addenda 1979 ff.),’ ANRW II. 32.2 (1985) 916–968 O. Hiltbrunner, ‘Seneca als Tragödiendichter in der Forschung von 1965 bis 1975’, ANRW II.32.2 (1985) 969–1051

5. COMPANIONS AND COLLECTIONS OF ARTICLES ON SENECA J.-P. Aygon (ed.), Sénèque, un philosophe homme de théâtre? (Toulouse 2014) S. Bartsch & D. Wray (eds), Seneca and the Self (Chicago 2009) S. Bartsch & A. Schiesaro (eds), Cambridge Companion to Seneca (Cambridge 2014) M. Billerbeck (ed.), Sénèque le tragique (Vandœuvres, Genève 2004) A. J. Boyle (ed.), Seneca Tragicus: Ramus Essays on Senecan Drama (Victoria 1983) G. Damschen & A. Heil (eds.), Brill's Companion to Seneca, Philosopher and Dramatist (Leiden 2014) J. G. Fitch (ed.), Oxford Readings in Seneca (Oxford 2008) K. Volk & G. D. Williams (eds.), Seeing Seneca Whole. Perspectives on Philosophy, Poetry and Politics (Leiden 2006)

6. BOOKS ON SENECA AND SENECA’S PLAYS M. Billerbeck, Senecas Tragödien : sprachliche und stilistische Untersuchungen (Leiden 1988) M. Billerbeck, M. Somazzi et al., Repertorium der Konjekturen in den Seneca-Tragödien (Leiden 2009) J. D. Bishop, Seneca’s Draggered Stylus: Political Code in the Tragedies (Hain 1985) A.J. Boyle, Tragic Seneca. An Essay in the Theatrical Tradition (London 1997) A.J. Boyle, Roman Tragedy (London and New York 2006) P. J. Davis, Shifting Song: The Chorus in Seneca’s Tragedies (Olms-Weidmann 1993) P. J. Davis, Seneca: Thyestes. Duckworth companions to Greek and Roman tragedy (London 2003) J. Dingel, Seneca und die Dichtung (Heidelberg 1974) S. F. Fischer, Seneca als Theologe. Studien zum Verhältnis von Philosophie und Tragödiendichtung (Berlin/New York 2008) M.T. Griffin, Seneca, a Philosopher in Politics (Oxford 1976; repr. 2003) K. Heldmann, Untersuchungen zu den Tragödien Senecas, Hermes Einzelschriften 31 (1974) G. O. Hutchinson, Latin Literature from Seneca to Juvenal (Oxford 1993) J. Ker, The Deaths of Seneca (Oxford/New York 2009) C. Kugelmeier, Die innere Vergegenwärtigung des Bühnenspiels in Senecas Tragödien (München 2007) W. L. Lieberman, Studien zu Senecas Tragödien (Hain 1974) C. A. J. Littlewood, Self-representation and Illusion in Senecan Tragedy (Oxford 2004) R. Mayer, Seneca: Phaedra. Duckworth companions to Greek and Roman tragedy (London 2004) N.T. Pratt, Seneca’s Drama (Chapel Hill 1983) O. Regenbogen, Schmerz und Tod in den Tragödien Senecas, (1927/1928); repr. (Darmstadt 1963) T.J. Rosenmeyer, Senecan Drama and Stoic Cosmology (Berkeley 1989) P. Schaefer, De philosophiae Annaeanae in Senecae tragoediis vestigiis, Diss. Jena (1909) A. Schiesaro, The Passions in Play: Thyestes and the Dynamics of Senecan Drama (Cambridge 2003) C. Segal, Language and Desire in Seneca’s Phaedra (Princeton 1986) B. Seidensticker, Die Gesprächsverdichtung in den Tragödien Senecas (Heidelberg 1969)

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G. A. Staley, Seneca and the Idea of Tragedy (Oxford 2010) A. Wessels, Ästhetisierung und ästhetische Erfahrung von Gewalt : eine Untersuchung zu Senecas Tragödien (Heidelberg 2014) K. Winter, Artificia mali: das Böse als Kunstwerk in Senecas Rachetragödien (Heidelberg: 2014) O. Zwierlein, Die Rezitationsdramen Senecas (Meisenheim am Glan 1966)

7. ARTICLES (PART. ON THYESTES AND OEDIPUS) M. Armisen-Marchetti, ‘Pour une lecture plurielle des tragédies de Sénèque: l'exemple de Phèdre, v. 130-135,’ Pallas 38 (1992) 379–390 T. Birt, ‘Was hat Seneca mit seinen Tragödien gewollt?’, Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum, Geschichte und deutsche Literatur 14 (1911) 336–364 J. D. Bishop, ‘Seneca’s Oedipus: Opposition Literature’, CJ 73 (1978), 289–301 A. J. Boyle, ‘Hic Epulis Locus: The Tragic Worlds of Seneca’s Agamemnon and Thyestes’, in A. J. Boyle (ed.), Seneca Tragicus: Ramus Essays on Senecan Drama (Victoria 1983) 199–228 L. S. Cordes, ‘Der Weg zur Anagnorisis. Eine personenbezogene Analyse der Kompositionsstrukturen in Senecas Oedipus’, Hermes 137 (2009) 425–446 F. Egermann, ‘Seneca als Dichterphilosoph’, Neue Jahrbücher für Antike und deutsche Bildung 3 (1940) 18-36 M. Erasmo, ‘Enticing Tantalus in Seneca's Thyestes’, MD 56 (2006) 185-198 E. Fantham, ‘Virgil's Dido and Seneca's tragic heroines’, Greece and Rome 22 (1975) 1-10 D. Henry & B. Walker, ‘The Oedipus of Seneca: An Imperial Tragedy’, in A. J. Boyle. (ed.), Seneca Tragicus (Victoria 1983) 128–139 C. J. Herington, ‘Senecan Tragedy’, Arion 5 (1966) 422–71 (repr. in Essays on Classical Literature, ed. N. Rudd, Heffer 1972) H. Hine, ‘The structure of Seneca’s Thyestes’, Papers of the Liverpool International Latin Seminar 3 (1981) 259–275 H. Hine, ‘Interpretatio Stoica of Senecan Tragedy’, in: M. Billerbeck (ed.), Sénèque le tragique, Entretiens sur l'Antiquité classique 50 (Genève 2004) 173–220 D. Kovacs, ‘Envy and Akrasia in Seneca's Thyestes’, CQ 57 (2007) 787-791 U. Knoche, ‘Senecas Atreus, ein Beispiel’, Antike 17 (1941) 60-76 = Senecas Tragödien. WdF (Darmstadt 1972) 58-66, 477-489 A. D. Leeman, ‘Seneca's 'Phaedra' as a Stoic Tragedy’, in: Bremer, J.M.; Radt, S.L.; Ruijgh, C.J. (eds.), Miscellanea Tragica in Honorem J.C. Kamerbeek (Amsterdam, 1976) 199-212 C. J. Littlewood, ‘Seneca’s Thyestes: The tragedy with no women’, MD 38 (1997), 57–86 G. Mader, ‘Nec sepultis mixtus et vivis tamen/exemptus: Rationale and Aesthetics of the `Fitting Punishment' in Seneca's `Oedipus'’, Hermes 123 (1995) 303–319 D. J. Mastronarde, ‘Seneca’s Oedipus: the Drama in the Word’, TAPA 101 (1970) 291–315 G. Müller, ‘Senecas Oedipus als Drama’, Hermes 81 (1953) 447–464 R. G. M. Nisbet, ‘The Dating of Seneca’s Tragedies, with Special Reference to Thyestes’, Papers of the Leeds International Latin Seminar 6 (1990) 95–114 J. P. Poe, ‘An analysis of Seneca's Thyestes’, TAPA 100 (1969) 355–376 J. P. Poe, 'The Sinful Nature of the Protagonist of Seneca's Oedipus,' in A. J. Boyle. (ed.), Seneca Tragicus (Victoria 1983) 140–158

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H. M. Roisman, ‘Teiresias, the seer of Oedipus the King: Sophocles’ and Seneca’s versions’, Leeds International Classical Studies 2.5 (2003) http://www.leeds.ac.uk/classics/lics/2003/200305.pdf A. R. Rose. ‘Power and Powerlessness in Seneca's Thyestes,’ ClJ 82 (1987) 117-128 W. Schetter, ‘Senecas Oedipus-Tragödie. Die Prologszene zu Senecas Oedipus’, Der altsprachliche Unterricht 11 (1968) 23–49; repr. in his Kaiserzeit und Spätantike: kleine Schriften 1957-1992 (Stuttgart 1994) 45–78 A. Schiesaro, ‘Seneca’s Thyestes and the morality of tragic furor’, in: J. Elsner & J. Masters (edd.), Reflections of Nero. Culture, History and Representation (London 1994) 196–210 A. Schiesaro, ‘Passions, Reason and Knowledge in Seneca’s Tragedies’, in S.M. Braund & C. Gill (eds.), The Passions in Roman Thought and Literature (Cambridge 1997) 89-111 S. Schröder, ‘Beitrage zur Kritik und Interpretation von Senecas 'Oedipus'’, Hermes 128 (2000) 65-90 B. Seidensticker. ‘Maius solito. Senecas Thyestes und die tragoedia rhetorica’, Antike und Abendland 31 (1985) 116-136 R. Sklenar, ‘Seneca, Oedipus 980-94: How Stoic a Chorus?, CJ 103.2 (2008) 183-194 R. Tarrant, ‘Senecan Drama and its Antecedents’, HSCP 82 (1978) 213–263 R. Tarrant, ‘Greek and Roman in Seneca’s Tragedies’, HSCP 97 (1995) 215–230

8. THE AGE OF NERO S. Bartsch, Actors in the Audience: Theatricality and Doublespeak from Nero to Hadrian (Cambridge, Mass. & London, 1994) S. Bartsch (ed.), Cambridge Companion to the Age of Nero (Cambridge, forthcoming) W. J. Dominik, J. Garthwaite, P. A. Roche (eds.), Writing Politics in Imperial Rome. (Leiden/Boston 2009) J. Elsner & J. Masters (edd.), Reflections of Nero. Culture, History and Representation (London 1994) M. Griffin, Nero: The End of a Dynasty (New Haven: 1984) M.T. Griffin, “Political thought in the age of Nero”, Latomus 268 (2002), 325-37 V. Rudich, Political Dissidence under Nero: The Price of Dissimulation (New York 1993) V. Rudich, Dissidence and Literature under Nero: The Price of Rhetoricization (New York 1997) J. P. Sullivan, Literature and Politics in the Age of Nero (Ithaca: 1985) G. Williams, Change and Decline: Roman Literature in the Early Empire (Berkeley: 1978)

9. HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHY

9.1. INTRODUCTIONS (WITH CHAPTERS ON STOICISM AND FURTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY) A. A. Long/D. Sedley (eds.), The Hellenistic Philosophers. Vol. 1: Translations of the principal sources with philosophical commentary; Vol. 2: Greek and Latin texts with notes and bibliography (Cambridge 1987) K. Algra [et al.] (eds.), The Cambridge History of Hellenistic philosophy (Cambridge 1999) H. Flashar (ed.), Die Philosophie der Antike vol. 4: Die Hellenistische Philosophie, Part 1 (Basel 1994) D. Furley (ed.), Routledge History of Philosophy, vol. 2: From Aristotle to Augustine (London: Routledge, 1999) 188–221 R. W. Sharples, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics: An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy (London, 1996)

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M. Griffin & J. Barnes, Philosophia Togata: Essays on Philosophy and Roman Society (Oxford, 1989)

9.2. STOIC PHILOSOPHY, PART. IN ROME T. Brennan, Stoic Life: Emotions, Duties, and Fate (Oxford 2005) B. Inwood & L. P. Gerson, The Stoics Reader. Selected Writings and Testimonia (Hackett 2008) B. Inwood (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Stoics (Cambridge 2003) B. Inwood, Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome (Oxford 2005) G. Reydams-Schils, The Roman Stoics: Self, Responsibility and Affection (Chicago 2005) R. Salle (ed.), God and cosmos in Stoicism (Oxford 2009) G. Striker, ‘Following nature: a study of Stoic Ethics’, Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 9 (1991) 1–73 J. Wildberger, Seneca und die Stoa: der Platz des Menschen in der Welt (Berlin 2006)

9.3. STOICISM IN EUROPE

M. Morford, Stoics and Neostoics: Rubens and the Circle of Lipsius (Princeton 1991) J. Lagrée, Juste Lipse et la restauration du stoïcisme: étude et traduction des traités stoïciens De la Constance, Manuel de philosophie stoïcienne, Physique des stoïciens (extraits) (Paris 1994) Le stoïcisme au XVIe et au XVIIe siècle, ed. P.-F. Moreau (Paris 1999) B. Neymeyr (ed.), Stoizismus in der europäischen Philosophie, Literatur, Kunst und Politik: eine Kulturgeschichte von der Antike bis zur Moderne (Berlin 2008)

10. RECEPTION OF SENECA’S PLAYS IN EUROPE W. Barner, Produktive Rezeption: Lessing und die Tragödien Senecas (München 1973) C. Burrow, Shakespeare and Classical Antiquity (Oxford 2013) 162–201 G. Braden, Renaissance Tragedy and the Senecan Tradition. Anger’s Privilege (New Haven 1985) W. M. Calder III, ‘The Rediscovery of Seneca Tragicus at the End of the XXth Century’, in Imperium Romanum (Stuttgart 1998) 73-82 H. B. Charlton, The Senecan Tradition In Renaissance Tragedy (Folcroft, Pa. 1969) M. Del Sapio Garbero, Identity, Otherness and Empire In Shakespeare's Rome (Farnham 2009) T.S. Eliot, ‘Shakespeare and the stoicism of Seneca’ (1927) —‘Seneca in Elizabethan Translation’, in Selected Essays (e.g. London 1951) G. W. M. Harrison (ed.), Seneca in Performance (Duckworth 2000) L. R. Helms, Seneca by candlelight and other stories of Renaissance drama (Philadelphia 1997) M. Helzle, ‘Seneca and Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy. Aspects of Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy and Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus’, Antike und Abendland 31 (1985) 137-152 G. K. Hunter, ‘Shakespeare and the Traditions of Tragedy,’ in S. Wells (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies (Cambridge 1986) 123–141 J. Jacquot (ed.), Les tragédies de Sénèque et le théâtre de la renaissance (Paris 1964) R. J. Kaufmann, ‘The Seneca Perspective and the Shakespearean Poetic’, Comparative Drama 1 (1967) 182–198 F. Kiefer, ‘Seneca’s Influence on Elizabethan Tragedy: An Annotated Bibliography,’ Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama 21 (1978) 17-34

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F. Kiefer, ‘Senecan Influence: A Bibliographic Supplement,’ Research Opportunities in Renaissance Drama 28 (1985) 129-142 Lefèvre, E. (ed.), Der Einfluss Senecas auf das Europäische Drama (Darmstadt 1978) F. L. Lucas, Seneca and Elizabethan Tragedy (Cambridge 1922) R. A. McCabe, Incest, Drama and Nature's Law, 1550-1700 (Cambridge 2008) S. Marchitelli, ‘Nicholas Trevet und die Renaissance der Seneca-Tragödien I’, MH 56 (1999) 36–63 S. Marchitelli, ‘Nicholas Trevet und die Rennaissance der Seneca-Tragödien II’, MH 56 (1999) 87– 104 R. Mayer, ‘Personata Stoa: Neostoicism and Stoic Tragedy’, in: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 57 (1994) 151–174 G. Mezzadroli, Seneca In Dante : Dalla Tradizione Medievale all'officina dell'autore (Firenze 1990) R. Miola, Shakespeare and Classical Tragedy: The Influence of Seneca (Oxford 1992) D. Share (ed.), Seneca in English (Penguin 1998) M. L. Stapleton, Fated Sky: the Femina Furens In Shakespeare (Newark 2000) J. Talbot, ‘Eliot's Seneca, Ted Hughes's Oedipus’, in: R. Rees (ed.), Ted Hughes and the Classics (Oxford 2009) 62–80 R. W. Tobin, Racine and Seneca (Chapel Hill 1971) O. Zwierlein, ‘Spuren der Tragödien Senecas bei Bernardus Silvestris, Petrus Pictor und Marbod von Rennes’, MLatJb 22, 1987, 171–196

This work by Michael Lurie ([email protected]) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.